If Xavier Trias ends up being the new mayor of Barcelona, the works on the tramway between Verdaguer and Francesc Macià will not take place. It is at least what the Junts candidate has said actively and passively throughout the electoral campaign, clearly opposing the union of the tram along Diagonal.
Faced with this danger of paralysis, the service concession company, Tram, is willing to mediate to try to convince the future mayor of the Catalan capital –be he Trias, Collboni or another– that "the tram belongs to everyone and the train to sustainability has no discussion”, according to Miquel Martí, president of Tram. The head of Moventia and the business group that manages the Trambaix and Trambesòs concessions assured La Vanguardia that he is "available to the new municipal government to help make the best decision, which will be the one that offers the best response to the citizenship". The best solution for Martí is, obviously, the continuation of the works to connect the two tram networks in the section that will remain pending between Verdaguer and Francesc Macià once the works of the first phase are finished at the beginning of next year.
The general director of Tram, Humberto López Vilalta, pronounces in the same line: "We are at the disposal of the rulers, we will not take a step forward, but neither will we go back." Those responsible for Trambaix and Trambesòs are convinced that the situation in 2023 will not be the same as in 2011, and they believe that the logic of continuing a work that paradoxically signed number 5 on the Trias list, Damià Calvet, will prevail. in his previous stage as Minister of Territories.
"It is not just an improvement in public transport, the urban transformation from Glòries to Verdaguer will speak for itself and the citizens, businesses and all the agents will demand the completion of the connection", remarks Martí, in charge of the company that has the concession to manage the tram until 2032 and which has yet to negotiate the modification of the contract to operate the three new Diagonal stations.
If one day the second phase is completed and the tram runs along the avenue from end to end, the concessionaire company assures that the number of passengers it currently has will double, according to a recently prepared study with which the company is loaded with arguments. to put an end to the reluctance with which they may collide in the City Council.
